Hill School

By Ginger Thompson Lynda Robinson of The Sun's metropolitan staff contributed to this article | May 24, 1991

Facing angry complaints from residents about unruly and violent students from Hampstead Hill Middle School, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke announced yesterday that the troubled school's principal would be transferred.The mayor also told nearly 200 people gathered at St. Elizabeth's Roman Catholic Church that his administration would investigate the possibility of rezoning the school so that more of its students come from the immediate neighborhood."One of the big problems is that the children attending the school are not from the neighborhood and thus they have to cross over this neighborhood to get home," Mr. Schmoke said.

As the song "Timber" rocked through the speakers, the crowd gathered for River Hill High School's Cultural Awareness Night couldn't stay seated - soon everyone joined in for a Zumba demonstration. "I did Zumba," laughed Amy Hairston, the schools choral director, catching her breath. As faculty sponsor of the River Hill's Cultural Awareness Club, which organized the March 25 festivities, Hairston was enjoying herself after all the work the group put into organizing the night. "This is the third year I spearheaded this," Hairston said.

By Lourdes Sullivan and Lourdes Sullivan,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | August 15, 1997

IT'S NO secret that our area is growing rapidly. All our schools are at capacity.Opening this fall is a new middle school, Murray Hill.This week, the staff held open houses for students and their families.The building is filled, at the moment, with boxes and crates as staff members rush to get ready for opening day next week.Principal Vince Catania is certain that everything will be in place by then.He has recruited a diverse staff that has experience in the Howard school system and elsewhere as well.

The Breezy Bishop Schowcase has a new name and a new location, but the girls basketball competition should be just as fierce in the Beast of the East Showcase scheduled for the second weekend in December at St. Frances and at the Carmelo Anthony Youth Development Center. This year's event features 44 teams, mostly from Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania, competing in 33 games over three days. Among the top local teams participating: Archbishop Spalding, Aberdeen, Digital Harbor, McDonogh, Roland Park, St. Vincent Pallotti, South River, Meade and host St. Frances.

Calvert Hall's Chris Knox (112 pounds), Gilman's Mike Faust (215) and DeMatha wrestlers Drew Robertson (145) and Wes Cummings (171) all won titles over the weekend at the National Preps tournament at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.Gilman's Damien Davis (189), battling the flu, was runner-up for the second straight year. Davis lost in overtime to a Germantown wrestler he'd beaten twice before. Knox was third at National Preps last year, and Faust was fourth.Robertson and Cummings, coached by Elkridge resident Dick Messier, each won their second straight National Preps titles.

The No. 7 Archbishop Spalding boys basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Bullis Holiday Tournament yesterday in Potomac with a 62-59 win over Virginia's Notre Dame Academy. Marquis Sullivan led all scorers with 21 points, and Justin Castleberry and Daniel Palumbo made clutch free throws in the final minute to lift the Cavaliers (8-1). Pat Behan led Notre Dame Academy with 18 points. Down 16-3 in the first quarter, the Cavaliers came back behind Sullivan's 13 second-quarter points to take a 36-33 halftime lead.

EVERY MORNING I walk my dog and every morning I get angry.My dog, a Jack Russell mongrel terrier named Gin, is not the cause, although she is one unruly beast. What gets me angry is Steuart Hill Elementary School on Union Square. For more than a year now, its American flag has been flying at half-staff. Day and night. Every day.To me, the Steuart Hill school's flag epitomizes everything that is wrong with the Baltimore public school system: people who do not care, people who are so uninterested in what they are doing that they do not see things that are obviously wrong.

The St. Frances girls team used its defensive pressure to force plenty of turnovers and converted them into baskets as it defeated Blair Academy (N.J.), 69-30, in the Festival of the Phoenix in Newark, N.J., yesterday. The Panthers (8-0) started strong behind Shatyra Hawkes, who scored 11 of her 18 points in the first half as St. Frances built a 22-point lead. Deanna Harmon had 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with seven steals, and the Panthers made 12 three-pointers. Tasia Bristow added 13 points in the win. The Panthers were also scheduled yesterday to play St. Michael's (N.Y.

The Breezy Bishop Schowcase has a new name and a new location, but the girls basketball competition should be just as fierce in the Beast of the East Showcase scheduled for the second weekend in December at St. Frances and at the Carmelo Anthony Youth Development Center. This year's event features 44 teams, mostly from Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania, competing in 33 games over three days. Among the top local teams participating: Archbishop Spalding, Aberdeen, Digital Harbor, McDonogh, Roland Park, St. Vincent Pallotti, South River, Meade and host St. Frances.

Six students were complaining of illness and 40 other people were possibly exposed to carbon monoxide after a leak Tuesday morning at Dickey Hill Elementary/Middle School, Baltimore fire officials said. The leak was detected in the cafeteria, fire spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright said, and the school was closed for the day. Staff was reporting to Windsor Hills Elementary/Middle School, said Edie House-Foster, a city schools spokeswoman. Fire union officials announced the leak just after 8 a.m. via their Twitter account.

Five adults and one child were hospitalized for evaluation after a carbon monoxide leak Tuesday morning at Dickey Hill Elementary/Middle school, a Baltimore fire spokesman said. The evaluations were a precautionary measure, according to fire Capt. Roman Clark. "It doesn't appear to be anything life-threatening," he said. The source of the leak at the school, in West Baltimore's Wakefield neighborhood, was reported just after 8 a.m., identified by Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. crews and contained, Clark said.

Six schools were named Maryland Blue Ribbon schools Tuesday, including Eastern Technology High in Baltimore County and Ellicott Mills Middle in Howard County. Each of the schools will be nominated to become national Blue Ribbon schools. In the past, most schools that have earned the state designation also have received the federal honor. "We're very pleased with the acknowledgment," said Tom Evans, principal of Eastern Tech. "We're very excited." This is the school's second Blue Ribbon recognition, Evans said.

The St. Frances girls team used its defensive pressure to force plenty of turnovers and converted them into baskets as it defeated Blair Academy (N.J.), 69-30, in the Festival of the Phoenix in Newark, N.J., yesterday. The Panthers (8-0) started strong behind Shatyra Hawkes, who scored 11 of her 18 points in the first half as St. Frances built a 22-point lead. Deanna Harmon had 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with seven steals, and the Panthers made 12 three-pointers. Tasia Bristow added 13 points in the win. The Panthers were also scheduled yesterday to play St. Michael's (N.Y.

Eric King opened the door to his car after a practice at Old Mill High School for tomorrow's Super 44 high school all-star football game and grinned, making it hard to tell whether the words that followed were a serious challenge or a playful joke. "I'll race you home," the All-Metro cornerback said, with his grin still spread wide. On the off-chance his driving is anything like his on-field play, there is good reason you should automatically decline. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound McDonogh graduate runs a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash, bench-presses 270 pounds and compensates for his size disadvantage with a craving for solid, brutal contact.